Padres Have Signed 17 Year Old Cuban LHP

The international market continues to be pillaged by the San Diego Padres as they continue to build a dominant minor league system.

A.J. Preller has a propensity for acquiring young Latino talent, and the man has no qualms about bringing in players despite their age.

Ramon Ernesto Favier Perez is a 17-year-old left-handed pitcher who has excellent stuff. He is clocked in the low to mid 90s with his fastball and also has a pretty advanced curve ball and split fingered fastball for a hurler of his age.

The Padres now have a solid number of young pitchers in their system. Perez is still very raw and to say he is a prospect at this point is a bit premature. He does however have a decent ceiling and adding him to an already overcrowded system can only be a good thing for the Padres. He will have an opportunity to learn from professional pitchers and from players that are roughly around his same age. With that, he could easily advance.

A.J. Preller has taken a ton of criticism for what he is doing. Some fans are still bitter about the 2015 building of talent that stunted the team’s growth a bit. That hoarding of talent was necessary though, as this fan base had gone dormant and needed something to wake it up from its slumber. Yes, this rebuilding process is frustrating, but the team is doing it right. They are bringing in loads of talent at the lower minor league system and the sky is the limit. There is still no guarantee of success, but the team is doing it the right way this time, and that cannot be argued by anyone with a baseball mind.

Preller might have found a gem in this young man. He was not scouted heavily because of his age, but as mentioned, he has no issue with taking a teenager and developing him. Perez is raw, but with the proper tutelage he could really be special. $400,000 is a pretty payday, and that doubles to $800,000 with the Padres current penalties. It is worth it, though, as this is the last chance for teams to spend like this. It’s just another reason to praise Preller for his efforts, as with the new CBA, teams will not be able to hoard talent like the Padres currently are.